Its popularity and its lurid story made it an excellent candidate for an opera libretto, and Rubinstein himself worked out the scenario from which Viskovatov produced the final text.

Rubinstein invited several musicians of the group known as The Five, including César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, as well as the critic Vladimir Stasov to a private hearing of the opera in September 1871, where the guests did not regard the work favourably.

Demon was performed in a semi-staged version at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow in 2015 with Dmitry Hvorostovsky in the title role and Asmik Grigoryan as Tamara.

The performance was directed by Dmitry Bertman of Helikon Opera and broadcast live on Russian television.

The final scene of the opera also appears on his 2016 CD Dmitri Hvorostovsky Sings of Love, Peace, War and Sorrow.

[7] A fully staged production of the opera, also directed by Bertman, was performed in the original Russian at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in April–May 2018.

During a storm in the Caucasian mountains a chorus of evil spirits call upon the Demon to destroy the beauty of God's creation.

When Prince Sinodal's body is brought into the castle, Tamara is overcome by grief, but to her horror, keeps hearing the supernatural voice of the Demon and his promises.

The Demon intends to enter the convent where Tamara is now living, believing that his love for her has opened his spirit to goodness.

Tamara prays in her convent cell but is constantly troubled by thoughts of the Demon, who appears to her in her dreams.